Before the End Comes
by TheChosenOnes108
Summary: Oceanic 6 just got off the Island. Kate is finally getting used to her life when out of nowhere Benjamin Linus appears. She doesn't know why he is off the Island and doesn't want to have to find out. All she does know is that it can't be any good.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

_Kate_

"_Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart"_

_June 2006_

Katherine Anne Austin was waiting in line at In N' Out, her son Aaron in her arms. It was a Wednesday afternoon and Aaron, like all three year olds, had demanded a milkshake by whining and complaining until Kate finally gave in. After waiting fifteen minutes they finally reached the front of the line.

"What kind of milkshake do you want, Aaron?" Kate asked.

"Happy meal!" Aaron's voice was full of joy.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but they don't have happy meals here."

"But I want one!" Aaron protested, his voice seeming to reach all across the restaurant. They had started to draw the attention of the people around them and Kate looked around nervously. "Okay, honey." Kate then proceeded to order a burger, fries, and a small chocolate milkshake. She walked to a corner and waited for their order. She had just started to check how much time had passed by looking on her phone when she heard a familiar voice next to her. Kate turned to look for the source of the voice. At the table nearest to her was sitting none other than Benjamin Linus.

"Did you hear me, Kate? Honestly, you should just give the kid a happy meal," Ben seemed to be completely serious, despite the fact that he was talking about happy meals. Kate was silent with shock. "You there, Kate? Are you in there?"

"Wha-," Kate stuttered, "How? Why the hell are you here?" Kate was stuttering with surprise and anger.

"I was hungry. You want a fry, Kate? Maybe if you ate more comfort food you wouldn't go around yelling at people." Ben wasn't smiling but his voice seemed to betray him.

"Order number forty-two!" the cashier called. Kate ran up to get her order and then stormed out, without looking back at Ben.

"Well goodbye to you too," Ben muttered into his food.

* * *

"Mommy who was that?" Aaron asked with the curiosity only little kids have. They had just gotten into the car and Kate was trying to diffuse her anger.

"Nobody important, honey," Kate wanted nothing more to forget this whole visit and the less Aaron knew the safer he was.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

_Kate_

"_There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed"_

"Alright, what do you want Aaron?" Kate was in the toy section at Walmart. She had promised to buy Aaron a new toy after Clementine, her friend Cassidy's daughter, had broken his while teasing him.

"Mator!" Aaron replied with joy.

"Alright." Kate said wanting to calm him down before he got out of hand. Aaron had fallen in love with the tow truck from the new movie Cars, and had been begging for a toy Mator since he first saw him in the movie. She grabbed the Mator toy car, handed it to Aaron, and together they headed over to the cashier.

They had just placed their items on the conveyor belt when she noticed him in the other line. Benjamin Linus. He was standing in line just like anyone else, holding a pack of oreos in one hand and coffee grinds in the other. She let out a small gasp. "What's wrong, mam?" the cashier asked.

"Nothing. Just realized I am running late," Kate used this as an excuse to get out of there as quickly as she could. The cashier nodded in response and motioned for the bagger to hurry up.

As soon as Kate got in the car she had to calm herself down. She didn't know why she kept seeing Ben. But she did know that it couldn't be any good.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

_Kate_

"_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room... I was losing my mind when I saw you here... Oh, I'm scared to see the ending /Why are we pretending this is nothing... I don't know what to say since the twist of fate" Story of Us - Taylor Swift_

"Are you sure they are going to be okay, Cass?" Kate was worried about this babysitter. She had never left Aaron alone with a babysitter before. She had always had Cassidy watch him. Or Jack. But Jack wasn't available and Cassidy and her wanted to go out to dinner. They were at Morton's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills and the place was crowded. She didn't like crowds. In her opinion all they were good for was hiding and she didn't need to hide anymore. All the people were starting to get her worried and the pictures of all the famous people on the walls didn't help calm the feeling that she might be being watched.

"Kate, you need to stop worrying. It's fine. Trust me," Cassidy said trying to calm her down, "Let's just enjoy our dinner."

"I need to get some air. I'll be right back," Kate said nervously, standing up.

Kate was looking at the cars out front, leaning against the bar when she suddenly heard a voice behind her, making her jump. "Hello Kate," Ben said. Kate's face was a perfect mixture of surprise and anger. She hadn't even heard Ben walk up. She hated when people were able to do that. It caught her off guard and she always needed her guard up.

"Isn't this a lovely night?" Ben noted. Kate just took a few steps back. Ben's face turned a small shade of red with anger but he then realized he had no reason to be angry. Based on past events, he had given her every reason to be afraid of him. "I'm not going to hurt you, Katherine," Ben's voice was filled with sarcasm. But Kate knew he was serious. He only ever used her full name when he was trying to get a point across.

"Why do we keep running into each other?" Kate demanded, "Are you following me?"

"Yes Kate. I'm following you because I have nothing better to do with my time," Ben said sarcastically. He saw the look on Kate's face and hastily said, "kidding, Kate, kidding." His arms were in front of him as if for protection. Kate let out a shout of anger and stormed back into the restaurant.

When she was back inside Cassidy took one look at her face and called a waiter over for the bill. "Can we at least drive through some place on the way home?" Cassidy asked.

"Anything but In N' Out," Kate said.

* * *

"Alright, spill," Cassidy was pulling out a taco from Taco Bell. They had just put the kids to bed. Kate and Aaron were over so much that Aaron had his own bed at Cassidy's place.

"I saw someone. From the Isla- from _there_."

"What?" Cassidy replied incredulously almost dropping her taco in the process, "Who? How?"

"I don't know how. But I can tell you who. His name is Ben. Benjamin Linus. He was the leader of the Others over there."  
Cassidy stopped in the middle of a bite her mouth just on the taco, "Wasn't this the guy who wanted to take all the pregnant women? The one who practically got everyone killed? Didn't he let his daughter die?"

"The one and only," Kate replied.

"I don't like this, Kate. If I were you I would stay as far away from him as possible."

"I know. I've tried to. That's a reason I didn't want to go to In N' Out. I saw him there earlier in the week. And at Walmart. Although he didn't notice me there."

"What? When? Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I saw him at In N' Out on Wednesday and Walmart on Friday. I didn't think much of it then. But now..."

"Now you think he might be following you? To bring you back?"

"I don't know. He said he didn't know anything about why we keep running into each other. But maybe. He could be lying. He's very good at that."

"You should assume that he is lying. Just to be safe. And keep your guard on at all times."

"I'm already doing that," Kate said, smiling crookedly.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

_Kate_

"_Suddenly I grasped what was happening - they were all trying to save me. I never thought I was worth saving." Albert Borris - Crash Into Me_

"Alright we have chips, ice cream, gummy bears, supplies for smores, and the movie. We missing anything, Kate?" They were at Cassidy's house, having a girls night, getting ready to watch _The Notebook_. Kate had been on the run at the time it came out, and had heard nothing but a bunch of crap from Cassidy about not seeing it. With the kids soundly in bed, Cassidy had been listing off their usual supplies for a movie night.

"Ummm, Cass you forgot the most important thing yet."

"Now what's that?"

"Hot Chocolate mix, Cass! Hot Chocolate mix! How could you forget that?"

"So who wants to get it?"

"You do," they simultaneously said.

"So apparently we both do. Now how are we going to solve this?" Cassidy asked to no one in particular.  
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" Clementine chimed in.  
"Clementine what are you doing out of bed," Cassidy asked picking up her daughter.  
"Bad dream," Clementine said in her sweet little girls voice. Kate and Cassidy gave each other a look. "Go on upstairs, honey, I'll be right up there."  
"Seems like Clementine solved our problem," Kate said, "I'll be back in twenty minutes."

* * *

"That will be three dollars, ma'am," the cashier told her. Kate had just gotten the mix and was looking around the store, people watching. She had just noticed a big, brawny looking man in a leather jacket when the cashier interrupted her thoughts. She handed him the money and muttered a 'thank you' then rushed out the store. Something about the man in the leather jacket put her on edge and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

She was walking back to Cassidy's when she heard footsteps behind her. Kate looked behind her and saw the man in the leather jacket following her.

"Hey there babe," the man called suggestively, "wanna come back to my place tonight?

We can have some fun."  
"No thanks," she said as quickly as possible then started walking at a faster pace.  
"Awww, c'mon. A pretty lady like you shouldn't be alone on a Saturday night. I'll make it worth your while." He had caught up to her and was close enough to touch her. Kate had just noticed this when he took her shoulder roughly and turned her around. Up close she could see he was fair skinned with a tough looking face and strong jaw line. He had no hair and tattoos lining his neck that seemed to be going down to his shoulders. She had been right about him being brawny. Even through the leather jacket you could see his muscles and the firm grip on her shoulder proved it.  
"Get off of me! What's wrong with you?!" Kate yelled at him trying to get out of his grip. It was useless. His grip was too firm and it only seemed to turn him on.  
"Feisty aren't you? I like that," he said pulling her closer. Just then she heard a yell from across the street. "Hey get off her! What the hell is wrong with you?!" The voice seemed familiar but Kate couldn't place it. There was a low growl coming from the jacket-man, "someone here has come to ruin our fun. Don't worry, babe, I'll take care of it."  
The mystery man had finally come across the street when he said, "I told you to get off her. Was that not clear enough the first time?" From up close Kate could see that the man was short and in a black trench coat with an old detective's hat on. He didn't seem at all ready to go up against the man holding her. All of Kate's hopes dimmed.  
"Yeah, I heard you. I just chose not to listen to you."  
"Fine," he said as his fist collided with jacket-man's face. He let go of Kate and stumbled back, "What the hell was that?!"  
"I told you to get away. You chose not to listen. I chose to beat the crap out of you," he said, stepping protectively in front of Kate. Jacket-man stepped forward to attack. But before he could get any closer the man in the trench coat was on him again, throwing another punch at his face. This time jacket-man was ready and ducked then threw a punch at his nose. Blood sprayed everywhere and the man stumbled back his hat falling off. With the blood dripping down his nose Kate recognized the man as Benjamin Linus. Ben recovered quickly and jacket-man was advancing on him, getting ready to throw another punch. In a whirlwind of hands all Kate saw was jacket-man stumbling back his hand to his eye. "You stabbed me in the eye!" jacket-man shouted, "with your thumb! What the hell?!"  
"And you broke my nose. Now we're even." Kate gasped as jacket-man pulled a long throwing knife out of an inside pocket. Too fast to even see, he threw it at Ben and it landed with a thump in his left shoulder. Ben cried out and fell to his knees his hands at the knife, scrambling to pull it knife fell to the ground with a clatter, and jacket-man walked closer pulling out another knife. "I would use this on you but you aren't worth it," he said. Then kicked Ben hard in the head. Ben fell to the ground seemingly unconscious, blood trickling out of his ear.  
Jacket-man turned toward Kate. "Now where were we?" he asked her. Kate was too stunned to move. For a moment there it seemed as if Ben was going to win and Kate's hopes had lifted. Now Ben was lying unconscious on the ground and jacket-man wasn't giving up. He had just pulled Kate towards him, his hands a firm grip on both arms so Kate couldn't move, when out of nowhere a fist came down hard on his temple and he crumbled to the ground on his knees. Ben kicked him in the chest and jacket-man fell backwards onto the ground. A groan escaped jacket-man's mouth and guilty pleasure rushed through Kate. "That's for knocking me on to the ground." Ben said, and kicked him in the ribs a few times. "That's for not respecting this woman." His shoe's heel slammed down hard on jacket-man's temple, knocking him unconscious. "And that is for kicking me in the head."

Ben turned around to face Kate. "You okay?"

"Ben? How? What? Why?"

"Kate?" for the first time Ben looked surprised.

"How on earth did you learn to fight like that?"

"Island 101," Ben replied dryly, his hand on his shoulder, trying to stop the blood flow.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked sincerely, "How's your shoulder?"

"Bleeding. But I'll live."

"Well, thank you. You really saved me there."

"Anytime."

"I should go back in case Aaron wakes you," Kate said walking away, Ben

watching her go.

* * *

"Got the hot chocolate!" Kate yelled walking inside. Cassidy took one look at her and knew something was wrong.

"What happened?" Cassidy demanded.

"It's a long story."

"Spill." Cassidy said in the voice of a demanding mother.

Thirty minutes and three mugs of hot chocolate later Kate was done talking. "I don't know about this, Kate. Something is off. You keep seeing this guy everywhere and now someone tries to hurt you and he's there. This isn't right."

"I know. I just don't know why he keeps popping up everywhere. Maybe he is trying to gain my trust?"

"Maybe. Just stay as far away from this Ben as you can. And stay here from now on. Just until we can figure all this out."

"Thanks, Cass, you're the best."

"I know."


End file.
